RSVP to the Massachusetts Menstrual Equity Summit, in person or online! 

Agenda:

9:00AM Registration, Coffee, Vendor Fair
10:00AM Welcoming Address
10:10AM Keynote Address by Chris Bobel
10:40AM Performance by Naomi Westwater
11:00AM Panel: Mobilizing to End Period Poverty
12:30PM Lunch, Vendors, Networking
1:30PM Workshops with Goddess Cecelia and Love Your Menses

Chris Bobel (she/her) is Professor of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She has been researching, writing, and speaking on Critical Menstruation Studies for over 2 decades. Her most recent books include The Managed Body: Developing Girls and Menstrual Health in the Global South (2018; Palgrave Macmillan), and the co-edited collections  Body Battlegrounds: Transgressions, Tensions and Transformations (2019; Vanderbilt) and open-source The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies (2020; Palgrave Macmillan)

Naomi Westwater (they/she) is a queer, Black-multiracial singer-songwriter and producer from Massachusetts. Their work combines music with creative writing, visual art, and spirituality. Like a rose with many petals, Naomi’s music is layered, striking, and tender, and she weaves in and out of folk music, flirting with rock and jazz. In addition to making music, Naomi is on faculty at Club Passim and Not Sorry Productions teaching songwriting, English, and spirituality, and they lead the Boston chapter of Beats by Girlz.

Panelists:

• Ally Crays is a current law student at Northeastern University School of Law. She is studying Public Interest Law while also earning a Graduate Certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She is a published author on menstrual equity legal advocacy methods and also serves on PERIOD.‘s Board of Directors.
• Charlotte Powley is a Public Health Professor at Brandeis and Simmons University. Charlotte’s research is in the menstrual hygiene management (MHM) field, looking specifically at U.S. policies that mandate the provision of pads and tampons to students. She focuses on themes of gender equality, bodily integrity and autonomy, student belonging, and students’ sense of identity and voice.
• Eiko La Boria was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico and is a the founder of The Flow Initiative, a non profit fighting to eradicate period poverty, establish menstrual equity, and elevate gender equality. She serves as a United State of Women Ambassador for Gender Equality and an a member of the Equality, Period. NJ Coalition.
• Lacey Gero is the policy and coalition coordinator at the Alliance for Period Supplies. Lacey works with allied members across all 50 states to support legislative efforts that work to end period poverty and ensure menstrual equity.
• Leimary Llopiz is the Advocacy Coordinator for YW Southeastern Massachusetts. Since 2018, Leimary has worked with the YWCA to bring together students, community partners, & supporters to expand access to menstrual hygiene products & raise awareness about Period Poverty. Leimary is also co-chair for the Advocacy Committee of the Greater New Bedford Youth Alliance and the owner, and founder of Circle of Life Doulas LLC and Grief Means Love.
• Aleza, Dariely and Alice, six graders from Salem Public Schools who organized to make products free in all Salem schools last year as fifth graders.

Moderated by Senator Liz Miranda (2nd Suffolk district). Senator Miranda is a community organizer, former youth worker, and entrepreneur who successfully ran for State Representative in 2018 to center those who have struggled when the government left us out of the conversation. Propelled to act after gun violence took the life of her brother, Senator Miranda has been a tireless fighter for families across the Commonwealth.

Cecilia Villero, aka Goddess Cecilia, is a Filipina Pleasure Educator, Advocate & Consultant who believes that even though 95% of the ocean remains unexplored, your pleasure doesn’t have to be. She truly believes that we are Mer-Made for Pleasure, even though the traumas and injustices of this world try to disconnect us from our inner joy and curiosity. Pleasure is power and worthiness. Pleasure is healing and expansive. Pleasure is a right and a revolution.

Goddess Cecilia will be bringing VOULA THE VULVA and Vulva/Body Crafts is to give people the opportunity to connect with their bodies through their craft creations. Goddess Cecilia and Voula the Vulva guide crafters around anatomy, pleasure, and health.

Love Your Menses was founded in Boston, MA in 2019 in response to the growing menstrual wellness needs of girls, menstruating youths, and women. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our mission is to dispel myths surrounding menstruation, promote menstrual equity, and build the next generation of leaders by providing an educational, uplifting, and supportive space for Black and Brown girls, women, and all people who menstruate to learn about the menstrual cycle and thrive throughout their reproductive years and beyond.

Love Your Menses will be hosting a new workshop on managing period pain. This workshop will be streamed virtually. Stay tuned for more details! 

Thank you to our Sponsors!

Sponsor the Massachusetts Menstrual Equity Summit!